This is the booking photo of Jason Brown, 24, that was released by the Washoe County Sheriff's Office. The Nevada man is accused of killing and dismembering several dogs at a Reno motel last month. Brown was arrested July 9, after a maid told police she found a decapitated dog in a room he was renting. AP Photo / Washoe County Sheriff's Office

Attorney John Oakes, who's representing 24-year-old Jason Schilo Brown, referred to the Reno High School graduate as "a pretty good kid with no prior history," the Reno Gazette-Journal reports.

But Brown, who's accused of torturing and killing at least six dogs – in some cases cutting off their heads and chopping off body parts – is in need of a psychiatric evaluation, said Oakes, who believes his client's possible drug use could have triggered the alleged behavior.

Police and prosecutors in Washoe County, Nevada, say Brown transformed Room 162 of the Reno Super 8 Motel on South Virginia Street into a veritable canine slaughterhouse. Four severed dog heads were found inside a small refrigerator inside the motel room, and assorted dog parts – including a tail, ear and penis – were discovered in the bathroom's sink and bathtub, according to investigators.

Police said they also recovered bloody knives and drugs in Brown's motel room, including syringes and a substance that tested positive for methamphetamine.

A friend of Brown's told authorities that Brown admitted to having "urges of rage" and that killing dogs "made him high," according to court records. The friend asked Brown if he also had similar feelings toward people, to which Brown allegedly replied, "Dogs are good for right now."

Nevada law enforcement officials allege that Brown obtained unwanted dogs through Craigslist, then brutally tortured and killed the animals.

The allegations first surfaced on July 4, when the Washoe County Sheriff's Office received a tip that dog parts were seen inside Brown's SUV. That same day, Motel 8 management attempted to enter Brown's room to clean it, but the door was chained from the inside and a housekeeper was unable to gain entry.

On July 8, motel manager Leon Dunlap ordered housekeeping to clean Brown's room, even though Brown had forbidden staff from doing so for several days, according to case records. A housekeeper used a master key to gain entry and immediately saw blood. She reported her findings to Dunlap, authorities were alerted, and Brown was arrested the next day, police said.

He is charged with two counts of possession of a controlled substance, and six counts of torturing and killing animals. All but one of the dogs were killed at the motel, police said, adding that the deaths occurred over a four-day period in early July.

Brown was expected to appear in court Aug. 13, but the outcome of that hearing wasn't immediately known.

He initially was being held at the county jail on a $70,000 cash bond, but an online search of inmates currently lodged at the Washoe County Detention Facility does not list him as a prisoner.